Factors Affecting the Implementation of Community Perinatal Midwifery Care in Greece, in Relation to the Perspectives, Attitudes, and Expectations of Primary Healthcare Midwives

Abstract

The implementation of community perinatal midwifery care in Greece, as in many other healthcare settings, is influenced by a variety of factors that interconnect, among others, with the perspectives, attitudes, and expectations of primary healthcare midwives. Understanding these factors is crucial for improving maternal and neonatal standards of care and ensuring that midwives are successfully reinforced in their professional roles. A comprehensive keyword search of the literature was conducted on five databases to identify recent studies: Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medline, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The search was restricted to articles published between 2008 and 2024, and search terms and variations of search terms included but were not limited to "community midwives", "community midwifery", "views of", "expectations", "perspectives of community midwives", and "implementation of community midwifery". As opposed to local reality, there seems to be an extensive global variety of literature associated with the views and expectations of midwives regarding their public role in the community. The fruitful implementation of community perinatal midwifery care in Greece depends on the merging of various factors, including the healthcare system's structure, support from the public and governmental policy, cultural attitudes toward birth, and the educational background of midwives. Community midwives' views and expectations play an essential role in how they navigate various challenges and opportunities they face along their daily professional life. To develop the delivery of community-based perinatal care, it is vital to provide a multilayered approach that contains structured policy improvements, increased assistance for midwives, enhanced public education, and interprofessional teamwork.

Keywords: community midwives; labor and birth care; midwifery care; midwives' attitudes and perspectives; midwives' expectations; midwives' views; perinatal care; post-natal care; pregnancy care.